A South Korean environmental activist wearing a gas mask and bearing a sign denouncing the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris climate accord participates in a protest in front of the U.S. Embassy, Seoul, June 5, 2017 (AP photo by Ahn Young-joon).

How the Hobbesian Trump Team Will Cope With Terrorism, Climate and Nukes

This past week brought some further clarity to the underlying assumptions that drive U.S. President Donald Trump’s foreign policy. There’s now enough information to determine that the Trump team’s worldview is based on deeply held premises about the nasty, brutish nature of the human condition. He and his team are systematically walking away from the U.S. government’s decades-long emphasis on international cooperation and the architecture that supports it.

The shift will have particularly dire consequences for the global community’s capacity to confront terrorism and climate change, with its impact on nuclear nonproliferation still an open question. ...